Round 25 of the 2022-23 Eredivisie season gets underway with a meeting between Go Ahead Eagles and RKC Waalwijk at De Adelaarshorst on Friday evening.
Both sides were on the receiving ends of defeats in their respective last outings, and they will be aiming to return to winning ways as soon as possible.
Match preview
Go Ahead Eagles fell to a comprehensive 4-1 loss against relegation-threatened SC Cambuur when the sides faced off at the Cambuur Stadion on Sunday.
Goals from Michael Breij and Mimoun Mahi either side of Mats Deijl's strike saw Rene Hake's men head into the break 2-1 down before second-half efforts from Bjorn Johnsen and Navarone Foor put the result beyond doubt.
Consequently, the pride of the IJssel Kowet have dropped down to 12th place in the Eredivisie table, five points adrift of the top half and as many points clear of the drop zone.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have not won any of the most recent seven editions of this fixture, coming out on top in just one of the last 10 clashes since 2017.
Off the back of consecutive victories on home turf leading up to Friday's contest, the hosts will back themselves to get the job done in front of their fans once again.
Waalwijk saw their two-game winning streak come to an end against PSV Eindhoven courtesy of a narrow 1-0 defeat at the Mandemakers Stadion on Sunday.
Johan Bakayoko opened the scoring 10 minutes shy of the interval, and that was enough to condemn Joseph Oosting's men to a maiden home loss of 2023.
With 32 points amassed from their 24 matches so far, RKC sit eighth in the league standings, five points behind Utrecht in the race for the final European spot.
Having ended a run of 10 away matches without a victory in their last outing on the road, Friday's visitors now go in search of back to back wins on enemy territory for the first time in over a year.
Team News
Bjorn Kuipers has featured in just one of 12 possible matches since the turn of the year through an elbow injury, and the 28-year-old remains unavailable.
Willum Thor Willumsson is also out of contention for Go Ahead Eagles due to a muscle problem, which is set to keep him out of Friday's contest.
Waalwijk's Mika Biereth made his return to action from an injury layoff with a brief cameo last time out, and the Dane will be pushing for a place in the starting XI.
Mats Seuntjens will be aiming to deliver the goods once again after he put on an impressive display for the away side the last time they took on the hosts.
Go Ahead Eagles possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Fontan, Nauber, Amofa, Deijl; Linthorst, Rommens, Idzes, Fernandes; Stokkers, Lidberg
RKC Waalwijk possible starting lineup:
Vaessen; Gaari, Van den Buijs, Nieuwpoort; Lelieveld, Bel Hassani, Anita, Clement, Lutonda; Kramer, Seuntjens
We say: Go Ahead Eagles 2-1 RKC Waalwijk
Both teams have struggled defensively of late, meaning that an open and end-to-end affair is on the cards. That said, Go Ahead Eagles have been solid on home turf over the last couple of months, and we can see them narrowly coming away with all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
